She would hold that love, known to no one but herself, quietly to her chest, and when Aria appeared, she would leave. Then he would find happiness in the arms of the one he loved, and her other wish would be granted.

“I wished for him to be happy.”

For him to be happy. To be happy forever with the one he loved. To forget someone like Isabella who had only passed through briefly, to forget the subject of the prophecy, and to be happy until the day he died.

“……”

“I think I understand.”

“What?”

“What your next wish is.”

She reached out with a trembling hand, lifted the teacup, and wet her lips again. Even the tea she loved so dearly could not soothe the burning inside her as it slid down her throat.

* * *

Isabella had barely managed to grasp the next wish she had not realized until now, and she spent a long while talking about it with Reymon. They also talked about Declen.

She told him about Declen coming to find her so soon after the prophecy came down, unlike before, and she told him everything about the trouble caused by the rumor Declen had spread. Reymon smiled and said he had been hearing all her news, and she pouted at him.

“It was naturally a shock when that news reached me. It shouldn’t be time for you to meet the grand duke yet.”

“But how did he really know to come? Even if he has an information guild, he seems to have found out far too quickly.”

“Who knows that you’re the subject of the prophecy?”

“You and Father. And Declen. Bailey doesn’t know either. This time, strangely, the mark didn’t appear on my forehead.”

Isabella rubbed her forehead with her hand. Right. That was strange too. This time, the mark of Avilion, which had been etched so clearly like a brand to mark her as the subject of the prophecy, had not appeared. Why was everything different this time? Was Avilion also changing the circumstances to save Declen, or had she herself twisted the predetermined future?

Fear came flooding in at the changing circumstances, but Isabella steeled herself to overcome it. She had to strengthen her resolve. Things were changing little by little, but Isabella Piper needed to harden her heart if she was going to move toward a more certain future.

“The fewer people who know, the better. It makes it easier to act.”

“I think so too.”

“For now, I’ll keep looking through the records on my end. The key to the library with the forbidden texts has come to me.”

Reymon rose from his seat and walked to a large desk on one side of the room, lifting a bundle of keys and holding them up for Isabella to see. In the sunlight streaming through the window, the keys gleamed as though made of pure gold, and they clinked and jangled softly as they came into view before her.

“I had only ever vaguely heard that these keys existed. I never dreamed I would hold them in my own hands.”

“Those are the keys to the library full of forbidden texts?”

“Yes. Lower-ranking and mid-ranking priests cannot enter under any circumstances. Even the priests who manage this library must be at least senior priests, and even those senior priests must cover their eyes when organizing or cleaning inside.”

“……”

“Only the high priest alone may read the forbidden texts.”

Her heart pounded hard. A library full of forbidden texts that only a single high priest could read. Could there be something written there about a situation like this? Could there be a recorded case of someone having gone through something similar in the past? If even the smallest clue, even a hint, could be found.

“I’ll search diligently. So don’t worry too much, Isabella.”

“I’m not worried. Everyone is on my side.”

Everyone was helping her. Her father, who even after hearing the absurd news that she was the subject of the prophecy, helped her with everything and worried alongside her. Reymon, who had appeared as the high priest out of nowhere and was there to support her. And more than anything, even Avilion himself, who wanted to change the ending, was on her side.

So she was not worried.

* * *

“I’ll send you a letter soon. Come visit again when I do.”

“All right. I’ll be waiting. But don’t push yourself too hard. I worry about you.”

“I know.”

They exchanged farewells and she opened the door to head outside, only to find her path blocked by a large figure standing right in front of her.

“Are you finished speaking?”

The familiar clothing she had been seeing up until she went in for her private meeting with Reymon came into view, and she immediately recognized the person standing there as Declen. 

Had he not gone to attend to his own business? How long had he been standing here? Surely he had not heard her conversation with Reymon? Since this was her first time in the high priest’s study both in the past and now, she had no way of knowing whether he had heard or not.

Surely the high priest’s study would not have such poor soundproofing. She tried to think that, but a strange unease crept up her spine and her body trembled. What if he heard? What had she and Reymon talked about? Her mind went blank.

“It’s all right.”

“……Reymon.”

He must have sensed it, because Reymon spoke from behind her to reassure her. Had he noticed what she was worried about?

“Have you been standing here the entire time, Grand Duke? The high priest’s study has thorough soundproofing, so you would not have been able to hear anything.”

“……”

“Of course, that is something the grand duke would naturally know.”

The tension that had been sitting heavy on her shoulders eased a little at Reymon’s words.

“I am aware.”

“Then why were you standing here? I assumed you had come with Isabella because you had urgent business to attend to.”

“Protecting Lady Piper, who will soon become the grand duchess, is my most important business.”

“It is only a visit to the temple.”

“No place where Lady Piper’s lovely feet tread could ever be described as only anything to me.”

Did this man know what he was saying? She stepped forward to stop the utterly bewildering words before more could come.

“I’m going home. Your Grace should return to the grand ducal estate as well.”

“I will escort you to the Piper barony.”

“I can go on my own.”

“I believe I just said that no place where your lovely feet tread could ever be only anything to me, Isabella.”

She glared at Declen, whose mouth kept producing words that left her speechless, and finally raised the white flag. People passing by were beginning to look their way. She wanted to disappear before more gathered. And she also wanted to get back to her room at the Piper barony and rest as soon as possible.

“Fine. I’ll go. I’m going. So please, no more.”

“……”

“I’ll see you, Reymon.”

Isabella grabbed the edge of Declen’s sleeve and tried to move forward. But the enormous body did not budge. He had said he would take her to the Piper barony. So they needed to get going, yet Declen’s sharp gaze would not leave Reymon. What if they end up fighting? Surely a high priest and a captain of the Holy Knights would not come to blows, but the worry was there all the same.

Even setting her aside, the two of them would need to keep seeing each other. In a professional capacity alone they would inevitably have to face each other, and with the prophecy entangled between them, they would need to meet even more often and more deeply. And once Aria appeared, she would need to make her way to the temple even more frequently, so friction between them had to be avoided all the more.

“Your Grace.”

“Just a moment, Isabella.”

She tugged the sleeve again briefly to signal they should hurry, and Declen gently removed the hand holding his sleeve.

“Your Grace?”

“There is something I must give to His Holiness.”

Something to give? Declen had something to give to Reymon? What could it be? Before she could fully form the question in her mind, Declen, having removed her hand from his sleeve, held out a small envelope to Reymon. An envelope? The envelope, which took up about half of Declen’s palm, was sealed firmly with wax. The Clerc grand ducal house’s seal was stamped clearly into the wax.

But what kind of letter was it?

“What is this?”

It was not only Isabella who found it puzzling. Reymon, staring at it without taking it, asked in return.

“Please see for yourself.”

Surely there was nothing wrong with the letter. Isabella tried to rein in her suspicion as it stretched in an unreasonable direction, and watched Reymon take the envelope without hesitation and carefully break the seal.

“It is an invitation.”

What had come out of the white envelope was indeed an invitation, just as Declen said. The invitation, as white as the envelope it came in, had small gold foil decorations at each of its four corners. Reymon unfolded it neatly and the contents finally came into view.

“A wedding?”

“Yes. An invitation to Isabella’s and my wedding.”

Reymon read through the invitation quickly and asked in a stunned voice, and Declen smiled and confirmed it. A wedding? Had Declen just said wedding? She had been told to expect the marriage approval to come through soon, but it had not been formally issued yet. And already an invitation? One she knew nothing about?

“Isabella didn’t say anything about getting married today.”

Reymon glanced at Isabella as he examined the invitation. Is what this man is saying really true? Isabella wanted to shake her head at the look full of layered meaning. But Declen was right there. He had just said they were getting married and handed over the invitation, and if one of the two parties to that marriage denied it, what would that make the other?

“I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you.”

“There are things worth forgetting and things that aren’t. Getting married and not even telling me. I’m hurt.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

I only just found out myself. When on earth did he set the date? On the verge of tears, she kept offering apologies, and Reymon grinned and stepped forward toward Isabella and Reymon.

“I’ll definitely be there.”

“……”

“Thank you for the invitation. I will be sure to visit the grand ducal estate on the day.”

Declen smiled back at Reymon’s thanks for the invitation.

“I hope you will come and grace the occasion with your presence.”

“Yes.”

“I do not ask for much in the way of a wedding gift.”

He was already talking about wedding gifts? Drained of all energy and unable to say a word in response, Isabella stared at the mouth that kept moving so smoothly.

“If His Holiness would offer a blessing for our eternal love and happiness before all in attendance, I would ask for nothing more.”